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Acquisition of derived nominals in Hebrew: developmental and linguistic principles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 1998

DORIT RAVID  and
AVRAHAM AVIDOR
DORIT RAVID
Affiliation:
Tel Aviv University
AVRAHAM AVIDOR
Affiliation:
Tel Aviv University
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Abstract

Derived nominals are abstract nouns derived from verbs and adjectives by nominalization. This study traces the route taken by Hebrew-speaking children in the acquisition of Hebrew derived nominals (HDNs) of two types: action nominals which conform in structure to the small set of obligatory verb patterns (binyanim) (e.g. ktiva ‘writing’) and deverbal nouns, which belong to separate nominal patterns (e.g. maga ‘touch’). One hundred native speakers of Hebrew (children aged 5, 8, 11 and 15, and adults) were tested on comprehension and production of HDNs. The test items were grouped by binyan patterns and by morphological regularity. Results showed that acquisition of HDNs starts at about age 8 and is not complete by age 15, and that task type, binyan pattern and morphological regularity all affect ease of acquisition. We consider the strategies employed in the course of acquisition of HDNs and offer an explanation for this late acquisition which requires a vast amount of prior integrated knowledge.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , June 1998 , pp. 229 - 266
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The authors wish to thank two anonymous readers and the editor for helpful and constructive comments. This is Working Paper no. 97 of the Unit for Human Development and Education, School of Education, Tel Aviv University.